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After the Drug War: Ciudad Juárez Working to Attract Visitors

The murder rate in Ciudad Juárez is in sharp decline: from 3,075 in 2010 to 487 in 2013. Juárez officials are launching initiatives to revitalize the city and attract visitors from across the border in Texas and New Mexico.

Not too long ago, “Texans and tourists alike used to visit Ciudad Juárez to shop, and to enjoy restaurants and bars. Others crossed the border for low-cost prescription drugs or dental work,” writes Angela Kocherga. The murders and nightmares of the drug war, however, ravaged the city, causing many of its residents to flee the city and scaring away potential visitors from New Mexico and Texas.

Now officials are working to overcome negative perceptions and attract tourists and investors back to the city.

“The city has big plans for its downtown district, which had been a major destination for visitors in past years…the development includes ‘a big shopping center, stores, restaurants for the U.S., because it's on the border by the bridge.’”

“And for the first time, the City of Juárez will open a visitor center on the Texas side of the border, offering transportation back-and-forth from El Paso to Juárez.”